Village pub, coffee shop and store reopen under new owners
The commercial hub of a community near Sleaford, is reopening under new ownership after being put up for sale.
The Whichcote Arms is an historic village pub in Osbournby which, along with adjoining coffee shop and grocery store, closed in November 2025 – meaning the villagers immediately lost all their valued amenities in one fell swoop - apart from the school and village hall.
The new owners, husband and wife Tony and Jacqueline Frith, of Laughton, near Folkingham, have been in the pub business for a number of years and happened to be driving past and notice it was on the market.
Tony said: “We have another pub in Somerset and decided to look into this one. We spoke to the estate agent and did a deal and got the keys a couple of weeks ago.
"We’re eager to see it open again. When you lose a pub, a shop and a coffee shop in one go, the heart of your community is gone, as it is not often you lose all at once. It will be nice to bring it back.”
They plan to reopen on Friday, June 5, although the popular village store will reopen a couple of weeks later.
Tony said the kitchen had to be refitted, but the coffee shop was in good order and ready to go.
The couple also have a coffee roasting business, called Brew Monkey, and they are installing a small roasting plant on site to produce their own, good fresh coffee as part of their offering on the menu in the coffee shop as well as the pub and stocked in the village shop.
"We also roast and brew for other people, but we plan to push our own coffee on site with our own newly designed and branded bags,” he said.
They have also changed the menus after seeking the community’s suggestions on Facebook, which has also generated a lot of local interest with people eager to see it reopen.
Tony said: “We’re going to have some pub classics and some specials for the weekends. Portions will be a decent size and good value.
"We also butcher our own meat, ordering it in direct from Smithfield Market in London, cutting our own steaks – nice, big and juicy!
"We will have game, duck and lamb dishes and a fantastic wine list.” Tony commented that having had their other pub for seven years, they wanted to make this new venture, with manager Beth at the helm, a lasting success too: “We are not in it for the short haul. We want to get it where it needs to be,” he said.
"We have a nice, friendly team of about 25 local staff who know lots of people in the area. That number will grow as we get the coffee roasting up and running.”
They intend to be open seven days a week and for longer hours than the pub, cafe and shop used to be, for everyone’s convenience.